Castle: The Capture
by KatherineJaymes
Summary: A man is found dead on a park bench with no explanation as to what killed him. Castle joins Ryan and Esposito on a hunt to find a murderer who kills without leaving a trace. Meanwhile, Beckett decides to make a change within her team that will not be well received. Could this change be good in the long run or will it be the change that costs someone their life?
1. Chapter 1

Kate woke up drowsy and her right arm felt numb, like something was on top of it. Lying on her stomach, she tried to sit up but smacked her head on something hard.

"Is that the ceiling?" she thought.

She reached to her left and found a wall just has her right foot found the other one.

"This can't be right," she thought, "am I in a box?"

Underneath her, something moved. She felt her right wrist move along with it, which brought along the cold metallic feeling of handcuffs.

"What in the hell?" she said quietly as she tasted a mouthful of hair.

Kate brought her left hand up from her side and pushed the hair away from her face. The thing is, it wasn't her hair. She could feel her heart rate rising with every minute she was lucid. Suddenly, she felt something move near her stomach moments before the mound hair moved just below her face.

"Ow…" came a voice, "why does everything hurt?"

"I know that voice," thought Kate. She pulled her own hair from her mouth as she gathered her thoughts. "Lindsay, is that you? I think we were kidnapped."

 **CHAPTER 1:**

The sun was shining through the blinds as Castle lay in bed, smiling happily at his bride. They have been married for over a year now but every time he looked at the beautiful woman sleeping soundly next to him, he couldn't help but smile. It was after 7:30 in the morning and Kate still dozing peacefully, something that was all too rare for the police captain. Castle snuck out of bed, careful not to wake her, and crept into the kitchen to start the coffee.

"An essential part to every morning routine," he said quietly to himself as the Brazilian aroma filled the kitchen. Walking over to the fridge, he pulled out eggs and grabbed the shredded cheese. It was a simple breakfast but one of her favorites.

He placed the finished product on a tray, complete with a fresh flower, and carried it into the bedroom. He could see Kate stirring as he walked in and she sat up when she smelled the fresh coffee.

"You made me breakfast in bed?" she smiled as she wiped the sleepiness from her eyes.

He set the tray in her lap and bent down to kiss her softly. "You got home late last night."

"My meeting ran long at 1PP, just a lot of logistical stuff that I won't bore you with. What is all of this?" Kate said as she picked up the large cup of coffee.

"Oh, nothing much," Castle said as he crawled back in to bed next to her. Kate grabbed a forkful of eggs and shoved it into his mouth with a laugh.

"I figured I should share since you went through all of this trouble," she said with a smile.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing on her nightstand.

"Beckett," she said, trying to hide the forkful of eggs in her mouth. "Perfect, I'll meet you at the airport." She hung up the phone and took a big gulp of coffee. She noticed Castle staring at her, waiting for her summary of the phone call. He was always looking for the next crime to solve. "No body is murdered, Castle. Sorry to ruin your morning," she said as she leaned in to kiss him. "Just have to pick someone up at the airport."

Castle kissed her deeply then took her hands in his. "Anybody I know?"

"No, but you will soon. Are you coming to the precinct today?" Kate said as she crawled out of bed and walked over to the closet, pulling out her signature skinny dress pants and a button up maroon shirt. She grabbed a leather jacket and threw it on the bed as she strolled to the bathroom.

Castle grabbed another forkful of eggs and talked as he chewed. "I have some work to do here for the next Nikki Heat book but I can swing by later. Especially if you guys pick up murder because you know how I love a good murder."

"I'll never be able to keep you away from murder, will I?" Kate laughed as she finished putting on her bracelet; the same one Castle gave her the first day she was officially Captain of the 12th Precinct. She emerged from the bathroom and grabbed a pair of black heels and slipped them on. "I'm sure the boys will call if they catch anything." She bent down and grabbed his face with both hands then kissed him deeply. "I'll call you later."

And with that, she grabbed her jacket and headed out the door.

Kate pulled her car up to the loading zone and hung her law enforcement tag on the rearview. She climbed out and headed for the entrance of the airport, looking over her shoulder and clicking the lock button, just to make sure. The black Dodge Charger honked in response and she continued into JFK. Kate wove her way around crowds of tourists, businessmen and families and made her way to the arrivals board. She starts scanning the massive number of incoming flights when her phone startled her.

Picking it up on the third ring, "Beckett."

"We caught a murder in the park, Ryan and I are on our way now," Javier Esposito said.

"Surprised not to see you in the office this morning, Cap," chimed in Kevin Ryan.

Her best team was always in sync and always reliable. "I have a few things I need to do this morning but I'll be there later," Beckett said casually. She didn't want to tell them over the phone, she knew she should have told them sooner but didn't know how they were going to take it. Hell, she didn't even tell Castle exactly what was going on. "What's this case you caught?"

Ryan was the first to answer, "911 got a handful of calls about a possible dead guy on a bench in Central this morning. EMT's checked it out and sure enough."

"Lanie should be there now. We'll give you the full lowdown when we get back to the bullpen," Espo continued.

"Thanks boys and hey, make sure you call Castle," Beckett said with a smile. Her husband always loved a good murder.

"He's meeting us there," Ryan said with a small laugh as he hung up the phone.

Beckett found the right flight and headed towards terminal C. The flight from Omaha was landing in fifteen minutes, which gave her plenty of time to grab a large coffee.

With coffee in hand, she found a seat by the windows overlooking the runways and took a deep breath. She was nervous, change was never easy and she hoped her team would be okay with this one. She picked up her phone, tempted to just call and tell them the news but then thought better of it and set her phone back down on the table.

"It'll be better if they find out in person anyway," she mumbled to herself.

Kate watched the signature blue and red American Airlines land and then taxi up to the airport. She gathered her coffee and her phone and headed toward the security barrier. Unlocking her phone, she opened her email app and clicked on the saved message from Captain Gates. Even though she was at 1PP, Gates was still a big part of the team. After all, this was her idea to start with. Kate opened on the attachment and checked the picture one last time. Slipping her phone in her pocket, Kate leaned up against the wall only to rise moments later as she saw the tall blond emerge from the security gate.

Beckett straightened her jacket and walked up to the woman, extending her hand. "Detective Cavanaugh," Kate smiled, "I'm Captain Kate Beckett. Welcome to the team."


	2. Chapter 2

Captain Beckett helped the new detective load her bags into the back of the car. As Beckett pulled the tag off her mirror stuffing it in the glove box, Detective Lindsay Cavanaugh climbed into the passenger seat and pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her shoulder bag. Pulling into traffic, Beckett took this as a chance to get to know her new team member. After all, it was a good 45-minute drive to get to the precinct.

"So, Detective Cavanaugh, why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I read your file and you have quite a bit of experience as a homicide cop," Kate said.

The new detective tucked a chunk of long blond hair behind her ears as she started to answer, "Well, as I'm sure you read, I have been working in the Midwest for the duration of my career. Started as a street cop in Sioux City, IA and then moved to Omaha, NE a few years later where I worked as a detective." Lindsay looked out the window, taking in the view of Manhattan as she continued to speak, "I worked in Omaha for, let's see, six years."

Kate noticed that Lindsay was confident as she spoke which was always a good sign for a cop. "If I am remembering your file right, you were squad leader as well. What made you want to leave Omaha and come here to New York City?" Kate continued, "It's quite the big change."

"It is, and that is exactly what I wanted, a big change," Lindsay said. "I have visited this city a handful of times over the years and have just fallen in love with it. Plus, there is no greater police force that the NYPD." Lindsay had a smile on her face as she turned from the window to look at her new Captain, "I've always wanted to work here so I applied for a job and was honestly, I shocked when I got your call a few weeks ago."

Kate glanced over at the detective, satisfied with her so far, "well, if we are being honest here, I was very impressed with your file. I read over some of your old cases from Omaha and you do some fine police work." Kate turned into lower Manhattan; it wouldn't be long before they reached the precinct. "But New York is a different animal, you're going to have a lot to learn here…"

"And I am fully prepared to do just that," Lindsay jumped in to answer before Kate was even sure she was done talking. "I am a quick study and I know there is going to be a pretty steep learning curve here in the city but I can assure you Captain Beckett, I can handle it."

Kate was impressed with her new detective but the question is, would she fit in with Castle and the boys? "I have to tell you, you are coming in to a very tight group of detectives, a team that has been together for a long time." Kate didn't want to scare her but she felt like she needed to warn her, "I've been holding off on filling this position until I found the right person, the right detective, and I think you're it."

"Thank you Captain," Detective Cavanaugh said, "and thank you for giving me the chance to be on your team."

"Well, you might not be thanking me for long," Beckett said with a laugh as she pulled up in front of the precinct, "I haven't told them about you yet," and with that, the two women climbed out of the car and headed into the 12th.

It didn't look like the boys were back yet as they stepped off the elevator. The murder board was still empty and more obviously, it was too quiet in the bullpen. Beckett took Detective Cavanaugh on a quick tour and then showed her into her office to fill out some paperwork. As Lindsay worked on her official paperwork, Beckett took the time to check in with the boys. Ryan picked up just before it switched to voice mail.

"Hey Beckett, we are just finishing up here at the park," Ryan paused as his partner jumped on the line.

"Strange thing about this one Cap, Lanie can't find the cause of death," Esposito chimed in. "Even your husband can't think of a way to explain it."

"Huh," Beckett said, "He always has some crazy theory."

"I've got nothing," Castle chimed in. He sounded defeated.

"Castle, this isn't like you," Beckett exclaimed! She tried to hold off her laugh but was unsuccessful.

"I know," Castle said, "I feel like a failure."

Kate could hear the boys' chuckle through the phone. She may be their Captain but they are still her best friends and she was already kicking herself for not telling them about Detective Cavanaugh sooner. "Are you three on your way back yet?"

"Oh, about 15-minutes," Espo said.

With that, they hung up and Beckett went back to her office. Lindsay had finished her paperwork, which meant it was time for Beckett to see what she was really made of. The women headed to the range so Detective Cavanaugh could qualify for her weapon. They put on their protective ear and eyewear and Beckett handed Cavanaugh the service weapon from her hip.

The detective took her stance and fired through the clip. Beckett pulled the target in and wasn't surprised to see a near perfect cluster of shots. She loaded up a new target and handed Cavanaugh a new clip.

"Pretty impressive shot there detective," Beckett said as she took a step back.

Lindsay just smiled and took her stance once more, firing through the clip with ease. When the second target was pulled back in, it was even better than the first. The two headed back up to Beckett's office and was surprised to see that the murder board was still empty which meant the boys were still not back yet. That was a relief to Beckett. It gave her just a little more time.

Back in her office, Beckett unlocked the bottom drawer to her desk and pulled out a box. She handed Cavanaugh her badge and her new service weapon.

"Welcome to the team," Beckett said with a smile, "I think you are going to do well here."

As the two women shook hands, Beckett could see Ryan, Espo and Castle file out of the elevator and head to their desks. Castle still camped out on his old chair next to Beckett's old desk but Kate could feel that would be changing soon as that desk would now become Lindsay's.

As the boys settled in and started putting some notes on the murder board, Beckett turned to Detective Cavanaugh and invited her to come meet the team. After all, it was now or never.

Castle, Espo and Ryan turned from the murder board when they realized Beckett wasn't alone.

"Who's the tall blond with Beckett?" Esposito said to Castle and Ryan.

"Must be the person she was picking up from the airport this morning," Castle said, "but I don't know who she is."

"Guys, I want to introduce you to someone," Captain Beckett said as she approached the team. Here goes nothing, she said to herself. "This is Detective Lindsay Cavanaugh. She is joining us from Omaha, Nebraska and will be working with you on this case. And…she will be taking the vacant position on this team."

The three of them looked stunned and that made Kate feel horrible. She knew she should have told them about their new team member sooner. Thankfully, Castle broke the now awkward silence. Kate could always count on her husband to pick up her slack.

"Hi, I'm Rick Castle," he said, extending his hand. "I'm the civilian consultant on the team and frankly, the one who runs this entire operation."

"He's kidding, we just haven't found a way to get rid of him yet," Ryan was the next one to introduce himself, "Kevin Ryan, welcome to the team. This is my partner, Javier Esposito."

Espo shook hands with the new detective and gave her a smile but didn't say a word. Beckett could feel the tension in the air and hoped that Detective Cavanaugh hadn't picked up on it but if she was as good of a detective as she appeared, Beckett could almost guarantee that she felt it too. Castle, reading the look on his wife's face, came to the rescue.

"Detective Cavanaugh, Lindsay is it?" he said as he gently grabbed her arm and pulling her to towards the break room. "Let me show you the best part of this place, the cappuccino machine."

As the two of them walked away, Beckett looked at her two best detectives and could see the look of shock and disappointment on their faces. Now, Beckett had to explain herself.

"Why don't you two come into my office for a minute," Beckett said as she led Ryan and Esposito into what could be a tense conversation.

Esposito was the first to speak; he had always been forthcoming with his opinions. "You brought in a new detective, without telling us? No disrespect Captain Beckett," he put emphasis on 'Captain' and Beckett could feel the sting from his words, "but a little heads up would have been nice." He didn't even wait for her to close the door before he spoke.

Ryan didn't say anything, just took a seat in a chair and crossed his arms. Beckett leaned up against the front of her desk, hoping that the gesture would ease the tension. "I wanted to tell you," She said, "I just didn't know how. The four of us, we've been a team for so long and I didn't know what to say so I kept putting it off and putting it off and then…" Kate paused; she could feel the emotion in her voice and needed to steady it. "I waited as long as I could to fill my spot on the team. I wanted to find the right person. I couldn't just stick anybody in with my best team. When Gates sent me her file…"

"Whoa," Ryan said, his arm unfolding from his chest, "this was Gates idea?"

"No, this was mine and it was a decision that had to be made," Kate said. "Gates just sent me Detective Cavanaugh's file because she knew that she would be a good fit. And I believe she is too." Kate let her gaze meet each of theirs before continuing. "I wouldn't have brought her in here if I didn't think she was good enough."

She watched as they just sat there, their gazes towards the floor.

"Listen," Kate moved from her desk to a crouch in front of them. Putting her hands on both of their knees, she continued. "I know I should have told you about Detective Cavanaugh before bringing her here. I know that and I am sorry. But I need you to work with her and show her the ropes. I wouldn't put you with someone who I didn't think was capable of handling it. Give her a chance." Kate looked them both in the eyes as their gaze met hers. "Castle didn't even know so don't be mad at him. Plus, someone has to keep her from getting corrupted by his insane theories," Kate said with a laugh and she couldn't help but notice a smile that crossed both of their lips. "Because I can only warn her so much."

"Is she as good as you?" Esposito said.

"Not a chance," Kate said with a smile, "but she is pretty damn good."

Each of them put a hand on Beckett's and Kate took that as a good sign. They were still upset and that was understandable but for now, they were good. As the three of them emerged from Beckett's office, Castle was already running the new detective through the facts they had already gathered about the murder.


	3. Chapter 3

Beckett and the boys joined Castle and Cavanaugh at the murder board just as Castle was posting a picture of the victim.

"Mark Wetrich, 51 years of age, works in sales at KTNY7 here in New York," Castle said as he put the last magnet on the vic's picture."

"He was found on a park bench on the west side of Central," Ryan continued. He started posting crime scene photos on the board under the headshot of the vic. "No defensive wounds, no obvious signs of trauma, Lanie couldn't find any clues as to killed him other than he died sometime between 11pm last night and 3am this morning."

Beckett stepped up to the murder board and took in the crime scene pictures. The body was posed in an upright sitting position, much like a normal man taking in the scenery of Central Park. "No wonder it took people a while to notice that he wasn't breathing," she thought to herself. "Anything on the vic that tells us where he was last night?" she said, still facing the murder board.

"Nothing." Espo said. "We didn't find much on him but a wallet with cash and cards still inside, a phone but that was wiped clean and a receipt for a coffee shop but it was dated two weeks ago so I'm just thinking he put on dirty pants."

"Plus he was still wearing a wedding ring and a Rolex so it definitely wasn't a robbery," Castle added.

"Where is his phone?" Cavanaugh said. She had been quite up until now, just observing how the team worked. "If it was wiped recently, I might be able to retrieve some of the last numbers he called or texted."

"Really?" Esposito said, "How?" He wasn't trying to doubt her but he wasn't sure about his new team member yet.

"There is an app you can download and when you connect it to a computer, it'll pop up the last messages and calls, even if they were deleted," Lindsay could feel four sets of eyes on her and caught a slight nod from Captain Beckett.

Detective Ryan pulled a bag out of the evidence box on Beckett's old desk and handed it and a pair of gloves to Detective Cavanaugh. She slipped on the gloves and pulled the iPhone out of the bag. She was thankful the phone was unlocked, a rookie move for an iPhone user. While the app was downloading, she pulled her own charging chord out of her bag still over her shoulder and then stopped.

"Is there a computer I can use?" she said.

"Of course," Beckett said as she grabbed the evidence box off of her old desk. "This one here is yours. I don't have a log in for you yet but…" she typed her own login and hit enter. "Just make sure you don't do anything illegal now," she said with a smile.

"Got it Cap," Cavanaugh said as she plugged the iPhone in and launched the app. After typing a few things, she turned the screen and showed the group. "His last call came from a number in the suburbs registered to a Nancy Gleeson."

Detective Ryan hopped on his own computer and started pulling up any information on Nancy Gleeson.

"He also got a call from an unregistered number," Lindsay said. "Let me see if I can find out where it came from." She continued typing. Castle pulled up his usual chair and watched the new detective work. Kate noticed this and felt a sting in her chest. That's what Castle used to do when that was her desk. Kate turned back to the murder board, distracting herself from the changes that were now obvious in her squad.

"I found Nancy Gleeson," Ryan called out, "She now lives lower Manhattan and get this, she and the vic just went through a divorce and it doesn't look like it was an amicable split." Ryan turned his computer screen for all to see. It was filled with newspaper articles and online pieces on the couple's split. "The vic's ex-wife is the morning anchor for KTNY7."

"I've got a location for that unregistered phone number," Lindsay said, her head still buried in her computer screen. "I've tracked it to an apartment, at least that what it says here." She turned her computer screen for the rest to see, "It's on the corner of West 100th and Amsterdam Avenue."

"That's right by Central Park," said Castle, "Not far from where we found the body actually."

"Okay," said Beckett, "Here is what we are going to do." She had grabbed the article copies that Ryan had printed out and started sticking them up on the murder board. "Ryan, Espo and Castle, you three visit the ex-wife. Break the news to her and see how she reacts." As she was talking, Castle was writing the phone numbers and locations on the murder board. "Cavanaugh and I will check out this unregistered number and see what's there."

The boys grabbed their jackets and headed out the door, a little too eagerly for Beckett's taste. She walked over to her old desk and pulled up her husband's rickety chair. Detective Cavanaugh was still typing away on the computer, trying to get more information off of the iPhone but having little luck.

"Sorry about that awkward introduction," Kate said to Lindsay, "I didn't know how they would take to me bringing in a new detective."

Lindsay logged off the computer and turned to her new Captain, "Don't worry about it, coming in to a team that has been working together for that long…" She paused and pushed herself away from the desk, looking around the bustling bullpen, "It'll take time for them to warm up to me, and that's okay." She turned and looked at Beckett, "Your husband though, Mr. Castle, he seems really nice."

That comment took Kate by surprise, "How did you know Castle and I were married?"

"I guess you can say reading people is kind of a specialty of mine," Lindsay said with a laugh. "It works better in interrogation."

Kate laughed as she walked backed to her office to get her coat and car keys and the two headed to the elevator. She turned to Lindsay as the elevator doors closed and said, "If you can read Castle and I that well, I can't wait to get you in the box."

Esposito, Ryan and Castle pulled up in front of Nancy Gleeson's townhome, but no one got out of the car.

"So what was with Beckett this morning," Espo said, "Springing a new detective on us like that."

"I can't believe she did that," Ryan answered, he was shaking his head as he continued, "I don't mind having someone new on the team. I mean we all knew it was coming but to not tell us?"

"It's like she was afraid to tell us or something," Espo said, you could hear the anger rising in his voice. "I was hoping she would have at least tell us when she had a candidate. What if this new girl is a joke? She's going to put us all in danger out here."

"Ryan rolled his eyes, "And what kind of cop comes from Nebraska? No way she is going to be able to handle New York. What was Beckett thinking!?"

Castle, who had been sitting quietly in the back seat, decided that he had had enough and chimed in, "Maybe she was afraid that if she told you she was bringing someone new in, we'd try and talk her out of it."

Esposito and Ryan looked at each other then back as Castle without saying a word.

"Think about it," Castle continued, "How would you have felt if Kate had come to us and said 'hey, I'm bringing this new detective in from Nebraska,' what would you have said?"

"We would have tried to talk her out of it," Espo said. Ryan nodded in agreement.

"Exactly," Castle said, "That's why she didn't tell us. She wanted to make this call on her own without the pressure from the three of us. She had enough pressure from 1PP to fill her position. Trust me, you don't have to live her, but that's beside the point. The point is," Castle paused, collecting his thoughts, "Kate believes that Detective Cavanaugh is good enough to be a part of this team. She believes that Cavanaugh is a good enough cop to take her place in the squad. Beckett wouldn't bring someone in if she didn't 100% believe they were worth it."

Esposito and Ryan took a moment, thinking about what their friend just said and realized that Castle was right. Beckett wouldn't just bring ANYONE into this squad. With that, the three of them climbed out of the car and walked up to the door of Nancy Gleeson's townhouse. Ryan reached the door first and knocked. They waited about a minute with no answer and knocked again. Soon after, the door opened and a middle-aged woman matching Gleeson's DMV photo stood in front of them. Ryan held out his badge and introduced himself and his partners.

"Ms. Gleeson, we are here about your ex-husband, Mr. Mark Wetrich," Ryan said.

"What did that bastard do now?" You could hear a taste of distain in her voice. She hadn't invited the trio in and stood firmly in the doorway.

"Mr. Wetrich was found dead this morning, Ms. Gleeson," Esposito said calmly. "May we come in and talk for a moment? We have a few questions for you."

Without saying a word, the woman stepped back and opened the door for the three men.

Ms. Gleeson was beautiful woman in her upper 40s with brunette hair just below her shoulders and a slender build. After spending years in front of television cameras, her face had seen its share of harsh lighting and lots of makeup but her complexion was still nearly flawless except for a small pink scar above her left eyebrow which was something she received in college mishap. She led the two cops and the writer to a common room and offered water with no takers.

Ms. Gleeson sat to face the cops on the couch but didn't look them in the eyes. Instead, she turned to her left and addressed Castle, "What happened to Mark?"

"Your husband, excuse me," Castle said, correcting himself, "ex-husband, was found this morning in Central Park on a bench by a bunch of runners."

"How did he die?" she asked, 'who could have done this?" Her voice was starting to break.

"Ms. Gleeson," Ryan said calmly, "do you know anyone who could have hurt your ex-husband? Someone that had a grudge against him either recently or in the past?"

"No, no, everyone loved Mark," she said as she grabbed a tissue off of the table beside her. "Hell, I still loved the bastard."

"From the look of it Ms. Gleeson," Castle said, "Your divorce was anything but amicable."

Ms. Gleeson fiddled with the Kleenex in her hand, "Our divorce was messy. Being in the public eye, everything we did was under a microscope here in the city." She took the balled up tissue in her hands and wiped a tear from her eye," We weren't good as husband and wife and fought like hell going through the divorce but after it was over…"She paused a bit, collecting herself, "we were getting along for the first time in years."

"I'm sorry to have to ask you this but where were you last night between the hours of 11pm and 3am?" Esposito leaned forward as he spoke, looking the TV anchor right in the eye.

"Um, 11pm?" Nancy Gleeson stayed calm as she answered, "11pm I was in bed. I have to be at the studio by 2:00 in the morning. My alarm went off at 12:45am and my driver picked me up out front at 1:30am." She reached for the drawer in the end table next to her chair and pulled out a pen and paper and started writing something down, "here is the name and number of my driver, he can verify that and the doorman downstairs, his name is John, he can also verify that I came home at 2pm yesterday and didn't leave the apartment until John picked me up."

She handed her alibi to Ryan and sat back in her chair, trying not to break down completely in front of the officers.

As the three men stood, Ryan extended his business card and said as she took it, "If you can think of anything else Ms. Gleeson, please call us. We are sorry for your loss."

And with that, they were out the door.

Back in the car, Esposito pulled out his phone and called Beckett.

"We got nothing useful from the ex-wife," he said, "Divorce was nasty but they get along great now. Everyone at work loved him. She seems to have a solid alibi but we will verify it." He turned to look at Ryan and Castle, "you two find anything?"

"We are just pulling up, we wanted to stop by the crime scene for a look first," Kate said, the boys could tell she had the phone on speaker. "Why don't you boys head to the TV station and talk to some of his coworkers, see what they have to say."

"We will head that way Cap," Ryan said. They disconnected and drove off.

Kate and Lindsay sat in their car outside the rundown apartment building. The looked around, taking in the surroundings and observing what they saw before they walked up.

"It doesn't look completely abandon," Lindsay said as she pointed out the window. "There are some lights on up there, third floor."

Kate opened her notebook and looked at the notes she'd scribbled down earlier. "The building is owned by a company call Harnesston Apartments. There isn't much info on them other than they own this building and that one over there," Kate said as she pointed to another rundown building down the block.

The two of them looked out the window again and couldn't see any movement within the building. They unbuckled and stepped out of the car. Kate let her right hand fall to her service weapon and noticed that Lindsay had done the same. The two cops walked up to the front door, cautious of their surroundings. Lindsay pushed open the door and Kate entered first.

In the entryway, they saw small mailboxes; the kind you normally find in apartment buildings but a few dozen of them had been pried open and left empty. They continued on, Kate on point and service weapons still holstered but at the ready. The lobby, if that's what you could call it, was a long, dark hallway with yellowing wallpaper peeling off the walls. They made their way to the staircase and climbed slowly to the third floor, Kate still on point.

The stairwell door was open when they reached their desired floor and they stepped into the hallway. "It doesn't look like there is anyone here," Lindsay said as they looked each way down the dirty corridor.

"I think I see a light on down that way," Kate said, nodding her head to the left.

They slowly made their way toward the door at the end of the hallway, taking note of the open and abandoned apartment they passed on the way. When they reached the end, they stood to each side of the occupied apartment. Kate extended her hand and knocked.

"NYPD," she shouted, "We need to ask you a few questions. Open the door."

They two cops listened for movement and heard nothing. Kate pounded on the door a little harder.

"NYPD, open up!"

Nothing.

Kate gave Lindsay a sign that said 'I'm going in.' Lindsay tried the door nob and found it unlocked. She counted down from three and threw open the door. Kate entered first with her weapon drawn and Lindsay was right on her six. The two swept the apartment, clearing the kitchen, common room, bedroom and bathroom. The apartment was small and crowded with just a few odds and ends lying around but no one was there.

"It looks like someone has been here recently," Lindsay said as she picked up a take out container with the end of her pen.

Both had holstered their weapons and were looking around for any clues that told them their vic was here. Kate found a slip of paper on a dusty table and slipped on a pair of gloves from her pocket. She handed a second pair to Lindsay then picked up the paper herself, which sent a smaller piece falling to the floor. Lindsay bent down to pick it up.

"It's the vic's business card," Lindsay said as she held it up for Kate to see.

"This is just an advertisement from the local paper," Kate said as she set hers down. "So we know our vic was here or at least knew the person who is staying here."

They started going through the rest of the papers on the table, hoping to find something else that connected the vic to the apartment or anything that told them who the occupant was. Kate reached for her phone to send a quick text to the boys to tell them what they had found. They could join them when they finished with the TV station.

But the boys never received her text message because Kate was unconscious before she could hit send.


	4. Chapter 4

Kate woke up drowsy and her right arm felt numb, like something was on top of it. She was lying on her stomach so she tried to turn and sit up but smacked her head on something hard.

"What in the hell?" she thought.

She reached to her left and found a wall just as her right foot found the other one.

"This can't be right," she thought.

Underneath her, something moved. She felt her right wrist move along with it, which brought along the cold metallic feeling of handcuffs.

"What in the…" she said as she got mouthful of hair.

Kate brought her left hand up from her side and pushed the hair away from her face. The thing is, it wasn't her hair. She could feel her heart rate rising with every minute she was lucid. She felt something move near her stomach, something that felt like fingers.

"Ow…" came a voice.

Kate pulled her own hair from her mouth as she gathered her thoughts. "Lindsay, is that you?"

"Captain Beckett?"

It was definitely her new detective.

"Captain?" Lindsay said again, "Is that you? Where are we?"

"I don't know. I think we are in a trunk or box of some sort," Kate said. "Are you hurt?"

"Lindsay was silent for a moment, which worried Kate but then she said, "No…no, I think I'm ok. I just think my arm is asleep." Lindsay tried to move but with little success, "Are you on top of me?"

"Um…" Kate paused, "yeah. It would appear so. Here," she said as she tried to roll to her right, "can you move your right arm now?"

Lindsay pulled her arm out from under Kate and could feel it sting, like hundreds of tiny needles imbedded in her arm. Yep, it was definitely asleep. She freed her hand and it hit the wall with a thud.

"You'll hit the same thing on the other side too," Kate said.

Lindsay moved her left arm which was bent up by her ear and could feel the cold sting of metal on her wrist. "So I'm assuming that the thing my shoulder is laying on is your arm?" Lindsay said, as the knot under her left shoulder blade grew tighter.

"Yeah, that would be my arm," Kate paused, she could feel Lindsay's breath on her forehead and wondered just how big the thing was that they were trapped in. She pointed the toes of her boots and hit the end of the container. "Can you reach with your arm and try and find the top of this thing?" Kate said to Lindsay, "My toes are touching the other end." The two were similar in height, which meant that, if Kate's assumptions were right, the other end of the container would be just in Lindsay's reach.

"I can feel it," Kate could feel her take a big breath and release it, "We need to get out of here. Can you feel the top? I'm assuming it's not very deep."

"I hit my head on it earlier," Kate said with a moan. She moved her left hand and found the bottom of the container then planted the toes of her boots against the end of it, "I'm going to try and life this lid with my back, can you reach it with your arms? Hopefully we can open this thing up. I don't think we will have much oxygen left."

Lindsay reached her right arm up and found the top but her left was useless with Kate's stuck underneath her shoulder. "I think I can reach it with my feet, hang on," she said as she shifted her legs, "you know, this probably isn't the most appealing position."

Kate let a smile cross her face. "Let's push up on three, ready?" She shifted slightly to get more leverage with her back. "One…two…three."

The two cops pushed up with all the strength they could muster and a sliver of light appeared at the top for a moment before disappearing.

Lindsay said, "I saw top move. Let's try again."

"Okay," Kate said as she positioned herself again, "One…two…three."

They pushed again and moved the top a few inches.

"Again, one…two…three," Kate said.

The top moved enough for Lindsay to get her foot through it. She started kicking her own boot against it, moving it a little at a time until there was enough light for the two of them to see inside the box.

"Keep going," Kate said as she reached her own foot up to meet Lindsay's and together they moved top enough for the two of them to reach up and push it off and onto the floor. It landed with a loud crack that startled them both. Lindsay rolled over enough for Kate to finally get her right arm out from under the new detective. Immediately Kate could feel the feeling returning to her hand. She sat up on her knees, taking in her surroundings and it wasn't good.

Lindsay pulled herself up into a sitting position and could see why her new Captain's eyes had gone wide. They were in a concrete room and their box wasn't really box. It was in the shape of a coffin.

Castle tried calling his wife for the fourth time but it went right to voice mail yet again. "Why the hell isn't she picking up?" He was getting frustrated so he stood up from his broken chair and walked up to the murder board.

"Okay," said Ryan, "now I'm getting worried. They should have been back by now. It's 2 o'clock and it's not like Beckett not to check in."

"And it's not like Beckett to not answer her phone," Esposito said as he walked back from the break room. "No one here has seen them since they left, which was shortly after we did."

Esposito and Ryan joined Castle in front of the murder board and the three of them stood and stared at the pictures in front of them.

"Have we tried tapping into Beckett's GPS? That'll tell us where she is," Castle said with a tone of worry in his voice. He had a bad feeling about all of this.

"Tori is running it now. Actually," Ryan said as their in-house computer genius rounded the corner into the bullpen. "Tori, what did you find?"

"The Captain's car is parked across the street from that old apartment building she and that new detective were checking out," Tori said as she handed Ryan a printout of the GPS location. He added it to the murder board as she continued talking. "As for her cell phone, it must be shut off because I can't get anything from it but its last location was inside that building."

Esposito, who had been facing the murder board the entire time, finally turned to face the group, "We need to get to that building."

"I agree," Ryan said, "something isn't right." He walked to his desk to grab his keys and jacket. "Let's go find Beckett."

The three of them arrived at the apartment building only to find Beckett's Charger right where Tori had said it would be and no sign of Beckett or Cavanaugh. Esposito suggested that they go check out the building so they made there way inside. After clearing the first and second floors and finding no signs of the two cops, they continued up to the third floor. In the staircase, a blue latex glove caught Castle's eye. He bent down to pick it up with the pen from his jacket.

"Guys," he said as Esposito and Ryan turned to look, "this looks like the gloves we use at crime scenes."

Ryan walked over and looked at the glove dangling from the pen, "it could be, or it could be from the druggies that hang out here." He patted Castle on the shoulder as he pulled an evidence bag from his coat pocket and held it open. "But stick it in here and we will get it to Lanie to test. You never know."

Castle slipped the glove into the bag and the three of them continued on to floor three. When they reached the landing, Esposito stuck his head out and looked down each corridor.

"I don't see anyone," he said, "Come on."

They turned left and walked down the hall, checking out every room but finding no signs that anyone has lived in the building in months. That is, until they came to the last room at the end of the hall. The door was open just a crack and it let a sliver of light out into the hallway. Esposito and Ryan pulled their service weapons out of their holsters and positioned themselves around the doorway. Castle put his back against the wall behind Ryan, waiting for them to enter. Esposito announced himself and received no answer. After announcing himself once more, he gave his partner the signal and they entered the room, guns drawn.

They cleared each room as Castle looked around the living area inside the door. When Esposito and Ryan came out of the bedroom with an all clear, Castle had already been sifting through the papers on the little table by the chair. The two detectives holstered their weapons and slipped on some gloves to join Castle in his search. Espo was looking around the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary when something under the dirty La-Z-Boy caught his eye. He bent down to pick it up.

"Guys," he said as the others looked over at him, "Beckett was here."

Hanging from Esposito's fingers, was the bracelet that Castle had given his wife on her first day as Captain of the 12th Precinct.

Castle had grabbed the bracelet from Esposito and turned to tell Ryan to call it in but he was already on the phone.

"…yeah, I believe we have a kidnapping," he said to dispatch, "Captain Katherine Beckett and Detective Lindsay Cavanaugh."

They both took a moment to take in their new surroundings. Lindsay reached up with her left hand to tuck her loose hair behind her ears but when another hand came with it, she suddenly stopped. The two stopped and stared. On Lindsay's left wrist was one end of her Captain's police cuffs, with the other end attached to her new squad leaders right.

"We need to get out of here," Lindsay said has she started to climb out. She stepped onto the ground and then helped Kate out next. "What in the hell happened? And what's on your neck?"

Lindsay reached over and moved a strand of hair from Kate's shoulder to reveal a red and purple mark an inch under her ear.

"Wait," Kate said as she reach up and did the same to Lindsay, "you have one too. We must have been drugged. That explains why I can't remember anything."

"The last thing I remember, we were at that apartment, then I woke up here." Lindsay looked around again. "There's a door over there," she said, pointing to the east wall.

They walked over to it and pressed their ears to the door to listen. Nothing. Kate reached down and tried the doorknob, just in case. Locked.

Turning to look at each other, Kate said, "quite the first day on the job, huh."

Lindsay rolled her eyes and let out a laugh, "I guess you could say this is quite the initiation." She looked down at their cuffed wrists and then back up at her Captain, "I'm assuming these are your police cuffs so there is no way we are getting out of them," she said as she pulled helplessly at the one on her wrist.

"It seems like I've been in these cuffs more than the criminals I arrest," Kate said. When she could see the look of confusion on the new detective's face she started laughing and then continued, "Castle and I, we weren't dating yet but we were taken once from a crime scene and ended up cuffed together in some basement of a warehouse." She looked up and paused a moment as she recalled that interesting adventure, "We thought that there was someone else in the room next to us, and the wall was really old so we decided to break through it to rescue them…"

"Why does this sound like it's going to take a very interesting turn?" Lindsay said, as Kate seemed to pause for dramatic effect.

"It wasn't a person on the other side of the wall," Kate said with a straight face, "It was a massive tiger."

"You're joking, right?" said Lindsay.

"Nope," said Kate, still with a straight face, "it was a big tiger. Castle and I ended up hanging from the ceiling at one point to keep from getting eaten by the thing."

"I honestly don't know what is making me believe this story but," Lindsay shook her head as she laughed, "I believe it. What?! Really?!"

"The point of the story isn't the tiger," Kate said, "but the fact that this is the second time I've found myself cuffed used my own cuffs." She held up her wrist with Lindsay's hanging right below it, shaking her head.

The two cops walked away from the door and back to the center of the room, looking around as they moved. Lindsay pointed to the far side of the room, "There is a window up there."

Sure enough, a small window, couldn't have been more than one foot by two, was sitting up in the corner of the otherwise concrete room.

"Well, we know it's the middle of the night," Kate said, "we must have been out for a while then before finally coming to. I wonder where we are?"

"Good news," Lindsay said. She noticed that Kate had turned and looked at her with curious eye because what could possibly be good about this situation. "The guys have probably noticed we are gone by now." She noticed the blank look that Kate was giving her then said, "sorry, I get a little sarcastic when I'm scared."

The two of them moved around the room, looking for something, anything, that would help them get out of there. They started moving in different directions only to be brought back together by the cuffs on their wrists. Kate looked around the room and then at her new cellmate and wondered just what Castle and the guys were doing to get her out of their and what the hell got her in this room in the first place.


	5. Chapter 5

Victoria Gates entered the 12th precinct and walked straight to the murder board, gathering the detectives along the way. Every detective was in the precinct. It was a rare site to see this many of them in the bullpen and frankly, it was getting a little crowded but when your Captain goes missing, everyone shows face.

Gates had been sent over from 1PP. She hadn't been in the 12th since her last day as Captain, when she officially handed the precinct over to the best detective in the NYPD but when the higher ups got word of Beckett's disappearance, they knew Gates would be the right voice to lead the search.

"Gather around detectives," Gates said as the group crowded around the murder board, "Captain Beckett and your new detective, Lindsay Cavanaugh have gone missing." There were rumblings within the crowd of officers as she mentioned the new team member. Gates continues, "I have been brought in to oversee this investigation. Detectives Ryan and Esposito will be the co-leads." She turned and gestured to the two men leaning against Beckett's old desk, "Brief us on what you have so far."

Ryan and Esposito stepped up to the front of the crowd as Castle handed out folders. "Inside these folders," Ryan said, "you'll find a rundown of all of the evidence we have so far including possible suspects. We are going to start with the murder from this morning." He paused and looked at his watch, "yesterday morning, I guess."

It was 3am but to the senior detective, it felt like noon. It had been almost 14 hours since anyone had last heard from Captain Beckett or Detective Cavanaugh and that was 14 hours too many.

Kate and Lindsay stood under the small window and looked up. "Hopefully you are thinking what I'm thinking," the Captain said.

"If we can get up there and get that open..." Lindsay said, her voice trailing off.

"It looks to be about what," Kate said as she stepped closer to the wall and reached her left hand skyward, "it's got to be seven feet up there, maybe eight."

They took a few steps back and stared at the wall, then around the room. Then for Lindsay, something clicked.

"I've got it," she exclaimed! "Let's move the box over to the wall. We stand on it, it gives us another foot or so," she said. She noticed that Kate was following her plan so she continued, "I can lift you up enough to reach that window, you get it open and we are out of here."

Kate's mind seemed to be moving a million miles a minute. This plan could actually work. "But wait," she said, "if you have to lift me up so I can crawl out, what about you? How will you get out?"

"Jump?" Lindsay didn't think that far. How would she get out? "We can figure that out as we go. Let's move the box."

They positioned themselves behind the box, bent down and pushed. It was heavier than they were expecting and the sound it made as it scraped along the floor make their heads hurt. The two cops kept pushing until the box slammed against the wall.

They stood up and high fived, the best they could anyway.

"This is going to work," Kate said, "it has to."

Gates split the detectives up and sent them to run down all leads they had, no matter how small. Ryan, Esposito and Castle were soon the only ones left in the bullpen. Gates turned to the three of them and sighed.

"What happened here?" She looked at each of them and continued. "What the hell happened to Beckett?"

"I think we should look into this new detective Beckett brought in today," Castle said. He had moved back to his wife's old desk and was leaning up against it, playing with a pen in his hand. "We don't know anything about her. It can't be a coincidence that Beckett goes missing the day she joins the team."

Esposito and Ryan looked at each other then looked at Gates. It was she that gave Beckett the new detectives' application and profile after all.

"I checked her out myself," Gates said, "before I even passed on her application to Captain Beckett. I think she is just as much a victim in this as Beckett is." She paused and collected her thoughts and then continued, "but go ahead and dig into her past, see what you can find. It couldn't hurt. Esposito and Castle, you look into Detective Cavanaugh, see if anything looks out of place. Ryan, see if there are any street cameras, security cameras, anything near that building where they were last seen."

Ryan was already on his computer typing away before Gates finished talking.

Gates looked at the boys and just watched them work for a moment before she turned back to the murder board. Her eyes went to the two newest additions, pictures of Captain Beckett and Detective Cavanaugh. "Where the hell are you two?"

"What if I put my hands together and you step there and then I lift you up," Lindsay said, "kind of like how cheerleaders do it."

Kate thought about it for a second then shook her head. "That wouldn't work, what about our hands?"

The two of them looked down at their still cuffed wrists then up at each other.

"What if you climb on my shoulders?" Lindsay said.

"That's how I did it with Castle last time," Kate said with a slight laugh, "but can you hold me?"

"Only one way to find out," Lindsay said as she turned and faced the wall. "Climb on up. Wait…" She paused a second, thinking, "we have to stand face to face or this won't work."

Lindsay turned and leaned slightly against the brick wall and crouched down so Kate could climb on her shoulders.

"Here," Kate said holding out her cuffed hand, "it'll be easier if we hold hands. Less strain on our wrists."

Lindsay grabbed her hand and let out a sigh, "I hope this works."

Kate put her left hand on her new detectives shoulder and counted to three. When she hit three, she pushed herself up. Suddenly, she felt her right hand slipping out of Lindsay's grasp and the two of the fell down, landing hard on the concrete floor.

"Damn it." Kate cried out. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Lindsay said as she looked at her left elbow, "just a scrape." She wiped the blood off of her elbow with her shirt and stood up.

The two of them turned and looked at the wall once more and rehashed their game plan.

"So I need to push up on your shoulder with my left hand," Kate said. "And then use your left hand as my leverage for my right, right?"

Lindsay thought about it all for a moment then shook her head. "That should work, hopefully."

They positioned themselves once more at the wall, standing in top of the coffin-shaped box they woke up in not too long ago. They linked together the fingers of their cuffed wrists, making sure they wouldn't lose grip. Kate placed her left hand on Lindsay's right shoulder and took a deep breath.

"On three?" Kate asked. When Lindsay nodded, Kate started counting. On three, she jumped up and her right knee landed on Lindsay's left shoulder. She moved her left hand up to the wall and her left foot replaced it on Lindsay's other shoulder. With her right hand still holding Lindsay's for support, she stood up as best as she could and reached for the window.

"What do you see?" Lindsay said as she grabbed Kate's ankle for support.

"Nothing," Kate said with disappointment in her voice, "I can't really see anything." She reached for the lock on the window but it wouldn't move. "I think the lock is jammed."

"Seriously," Lindsay said, "are you sure?"

"Wait, it moving a little," Kate said as she kept jimmying the lock. "I might be able to get it. How are you going down there? I don't want to hurt you!"

"I'll be fine if this gets us out of here," Lindsay exclaimed!

"We will get her back Mr. Castle," Gates said as she walked up behind him. Castle had been staring out the window in Kate's office for a while now, just thinking.

"We have nothing, no leads," he said. Castle took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kept looking out the window as Gates stood next to him. The sun was just starting to peek out above the horizon and his wife had now been gone for over 16 hours.


	6. Chapter 6

"I got it," Kate said quietly. "Lindsay, I got it!"

"Are you serious?" Lindsay said as she steadied herself. The muscles in her neck and shoulders were starting to cramp. Kate had been standing on her shoulders for fifteen minutes now. "Can you climb out?"

"I think so, but what about you?" Kate turned to look over her shoulder and down at her new detective. "Once I crawl out, how are you going to get out? We will be stuck."

"I don't know," Lindsay said, then she paused, "it just has to work. If not, then one of us will have to bite our hand off to free the other."

Kate just stared downward and laughed, "Let's not resort to that plan."

"Guys, I've got something!" Ryan yelled as he came running into the bullpen. He had locked himself up in the surveillance room scrubbing street camera footage, looking for anything that might give them a lead.

Castle, Esposito and Gates all followed Ryan back into the surveillance room and gathered around the big screen, waiting to see if they finally had their first big lead.

"I went over footage from every street camera, security camera, dash camera, any camera I could find and look," he said has he pressed the play button.

The four of them watched as a blacked out van pulled up to the alleyway in the far left side of the cracked screen. A man in dark clothes climbed out and opened the back just as two more came out of the alley.

"Oh my god," Castle said as he his hand covered his mouth, 'that's Beckett."

"And that looks like Detective Cavanaugh," Gates said shaking her head.

Hanging backwards over the shoulders of the two men emerging from the alley were two female figures, both with long hair dangling as their heads hung upside down. Ryan froze the frame as the two men came into the street and zoomed in on the image. What the four of them saw on the screen made their hearts sink. It was the girls.

Ryan pressed play as the men tossed the two cops into the back of the van and slammed the doors.

"Can we run facial recognition on any of that?" Gates said, although she already knew the answer.

"They are all wearing hoodies and you can't see their faces well enough. I've tried. Also, there are no distinctive markings on the van. To tell you the truth, we've got nothing but the video and the license plates," said Ryan.

"Which are probably stolen," said Esposito, "but I'll run it anyway." He grabbed a sticky note with the license plate number on it from his partner and headed to his desk.

"Can you track the van?" Castle said, "see where it went?"

"I did," Ryan said, "And I lost it when it went into a private airport."

"You're going to have to help me since I only have the use of one hand," Kate said to Lindsay.

"Well, where would you like me to put my other hand to help you out?" Lindsay said sarcastically.

As Kate was about to answer, a noise startled them. They both turned and looked toward the door as something that sounded like a man's voice bellowed just beyond it.

"Someone is coming," Lindsay said quietly, "we have to get out now or you have to get down!"

"Shit!" Kate whispered as she looked out the window, "I think I can see a tree line 100 yards out. If we can get out there…"

"The voices are getting louder Captain, you have to decide now." Lindsay was starting to panic. If these men who kidnapped them saw they were trying to escape, who knows what they would do to them.

"On three, push me up," Kate said. "One...two...three."

With her left hand on the window ledge and her right gripping Lindsay's, Kate pushed herself up and made it halfway out the window before the handcuffs wouldn't allow her right arm to go any further.

"I'm stuck," she said. "I can't go any farther. The cuffs won't go any farther."

"You have to get your left leg out and try and get out sideways," Lindsay said, "and you need to hurry, there are getting closer."

"Push my leg up then," Kate said as she twisted and struggled to get her leg out. She could feel Lindsay's hand on her calf giving her a much needed push. She wiggled her left knee up onto the ledge and turned her body to face the window. She was out.

Lindsay took a brief moment to roll her shoulders, stiff from having her Captain standing on them in her boots. She turned face the wall and looked up. What seemed so close moments ago seemed to be an even bigger feat now that she was on her own to climb out.

"Give me both your hands," Kate said as she scooted her body back in and reached out her free hand to Lindsay. Lindsay took both of Kate's hands and looked up at her new Captain.

"Now you're going to climb this wall and you're going to get out," Kate said firmly. "We are going to get out of here."

As she was talking, something pounded on the door. It didn't sound like a hand but something or someone was definitely outside the room.

"You can do this, come on," Kate said. "I've got you."

Lindsay planted the toes of her right foot on the concrete wall and hoped her shoes had enough grip. She looked up at Kate and nodded her head.

"On three, again," Kate said, "one...two…"

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and a man appeared.

"Hey!" He yelled, "they're getting out!"

"Climb Lindsay!" Kate screamed as she started pulling her detective out of the window.

Lindsay jumped up and could feel the muscles in she shoulders burn. Kate pulled up as Lindsay struggled to find grip on the wall with her feel. Her hands reach the window ledge and Kate freed her left hand and gripped the back of her jacket, pulling her out of the window.

Lindsay felt a hand grip her left leg and she let out a scream. "He's got me, pull me out!" She looked back at the man then up at Kate, a look of terror in both of their eyes. Neither wanted to know what would happen to them if they got pulled back into the room.

"Kate…" Lindsay said defeatedly as the man's grip got tighter and he started to pull her back in."

"I've got you," Kate said, "kick him, get that leg free." She heard a noise off to her left but couldn't see anything or anyone. "You have to, come on."

Lindsay started kicking both legs madly and felt a sting in her heel as her right leg connected with the side of the man's head. His grip loosened on her other leg and she hoisted herself out until she was far enough to crawl.

As she was finally getting her legs on solid ground once again, two dark figures came barreling around the far left end of the building.

"We've got to go, now!" Kate cried out as she pulled Lindsay to her feet. "Run!"

"What do you mean an airport?" Castle's heart sank as he watched the black van enter a private airport hangar then disappear out of sight.

Gates turned her back to the screen and shook her head. This wasn't good news. Ryan rewound the tape and they watched the van enter the hangar once more.

"I lost it once it entered the hangar but check this out," Ryan said has he typed away on the keyboard. He brought up a security camera from outside the airport and then hit play. "This is from across the street in a warehouse parking lot. "If I skip ahead a little," he paused as he typed, "There, look."

Gates and Castle watched as a plane ascended into the late night sky. No one spoke a word until they could no longer see its taillights.

"I haven't been able to track the plane," Ryan said. 'It looks to be a private aircraft."

"We have to get to that airport. The van might still be there," Castle said as he turned to look at Gates.

"We don't know if Beckett and Cavanaugh were in that plane," Gates said to Castle, "I want you to remember that. Ryan, I want you and Esposito to gather a team and head to that hangar, see if you can find that van or and that plane. Right now, this is the best lead we've got."

Ryan nodded and headed to the bullpen with Castle at his heels.

"Ah, not you Mr. Castle," Gates said as she grabbed his elbow. "You are more of a liability than an asset out there. You're staying put."

"What? No!" Castle looked at Gates, hoping she wasn't serious," I have to go. What if Beckett is there?"

"You are more useful here Mr. Castle," Gates said, "I need my boys at the top of their game if they are going to bring Beckett and Cavanaugh back. And I need you to pull everything we have on that murder. Suspects, evidence, the victim's whereabouts, anything we have. Beckett's disappearance is connected to that murder. We find the killer and we will find your wife."

Castle looked Gates right in the eyes then nodded in agreement. Whoever killed Mr. Wetrich is the key to finding Captain Kate Beckett and Detective Lindsay Cavanaugh.


	7. Chapter 7

Ryan and Esposito pulled up to the outer gates of the private airport just outside of the city. A cavalry of cops were following behind them. Gates had called and woken up a judge and had gotten a search warrant for the airport grounds. Because all they had to go on was the black van, she had to promise the judge courtside seats to the upcoming Knicks game, which Castle was happy to provide. It wasn't necessarily ethical but this was Beckett they were talking about.

Ryan drove up to the guard shack just as the sun was starting to rise and showed the on-duty guard the warrant. After he opened the gate, the cops fanned out to search the buildings and find the black van and hopefully, Beckett and Cavanaugh too.

"Keep going, I think they are still behind us," Lindsay cried out as she glanced over her shoulder. They had made it to the tree line and took off running. Now they were desperately trying to stay ahead of their captors and they had been running for a while.

"This way," Lindsay said as she suddenly veered to the right but Kate kept going straight. The cuffs still connecting their wrists, sharp pains streaking up both of their arms suddenly pulled them back.

"Grab my hand," Kate said as she reached for Lindsay's cuffed hand with her own, "We're going to break our wrists if we keep pulling apart."

Lindsay took ahold of her open hand and then pulled her to the right and they kept running. Behind them came a loud grunt as one of the two men chasing them landed hard in the mud after tripping over a fallen branch.

"We have to lose them," Kate said as she huffed. She was breathing heavily from running for so long and could see that her new detective was too. They had to either outrun them or outlast them and neither option was looking too promising.

"Wait," Lindsay said as she slowed, "I don't hear them anymore." The two women paused and listened but all they could hear was the calming sounds of nature around them.

Kate took in her surroundings, carefully listening for anything that would tell her where the men might be. "I think you're right," she said. They must have given up when they fell in the mud. They were free. "We should keep moving," Kate said to Lindsay.

"Where? We don't know where we are or how to get out of here," Lindsay said. "We can't go back the way we came so which way should we go?"

The two cops stood and looked around but they couldn't see anything but trees. An audible rumble startled Lindsay and she turned at looked at her Captain.

"How are your wilderness skills, detective?" Kate said as she raised an eyebrow?

"I'm from Nebraska, we don't really have this kind of wilderness but I have done a bit of tent camping in my day," Lindsay said. "We need to find a road, and water," she heard Kate's stomach rumble again, "and something for food," she continued.

"And civilization." said Kate as she looked up at the sky or what she could see of it anyway and then turned and looked back towards the direction they came from. "We should walk that way," she said as she pointed to the right, "the sun is rising from the East so let's walk that direction."

The two cops started heading east, looking for anything that they could use for food or water and for anything that showed signs of human life. Wherever they were, they were on their own, with their wrists still bound together by Beckett's police cuffs.

"Please tell me you have something we can use?"

Esposito needed a break from the bullpen and thought he would check in on Lanie Parish. The resident Medical Examiner wasn't only the best in the city but also his Captain's best friend. And let's not forget the once budding romance Esposito once shared with the beautiful woman in scrubs.

Esposito made his way to the autopsy table where their victim, Mr. Wetrich lay, a sheet covering him up to his waist. What was left of the Y incision across his chest was now just a row of staples. Lanie was taking off her gloves when he walked into her autopsy suite and she greeted him with a hug.

'How is Castle holding up?" she asked as she wrapped him in a friendly embrace, "how are you holding up?"

"We have nothing Lanie, nothing solid," he sighed as he returned the embrace. Their relationship may not have lasted but it was obvious they still cared deeply for each other. "Beckett's been gone almost 24 hours and we are no closer to finding her now than we were last night."

Lanie pulled back but still kept her hands on his biceps, as she talked, "Ryan didn't find anything on the security cameras?"

Esposito shook his head and then answered, "A black van. He pulled video from a camera across the street from the building. We watched as two men in black clothes threw Beckett and Cavanaugh into the back of this black van and drove off." He paused a moment, collecting his thoughts. He took a step away from Lanie and ran a hand through his hair.

"Ryan tracked the van to this private airport and Gates got us a warrant. We found the van but it was scrubbed clean and no signs of them. CSU is going over it now but…" his voice trailed off before he continued, "we have nothing, Lanie. We were here all night and we have nothing. The ID the van driver used to gain entry to the place was even fake."

"I was here all night too," she said as she walked back to the autopsy table and grabbed a new pair of gloves off of a tray above the vics head. "I wanted to make sure I finished Mr. Wetrich's autopsy right away."

She lifted the vic's right wrist and showed the detective a ring of purple bruising circling his wrist. "He has the same markings on his left wrist too," Lanie said, "the deepest bruising is on the outsides of each wrist so my guess, he was bound, most likely with handcuffs or some other type of hard material, up until the time of death."

Esposito slipped on a pair of gloves and lifted the man's other wrist to examine the bruising, even though he couldn't really tell what he was looking at. He laid the vics arm back down on the autopsy table gently and asked, "Do you have a COD?"

"No," Lanie said as she looked down at the vic, "He has no major signs of trauma, no gunshot wounds, no stab wounds, no needle marks. His organs were perfectly healthy except for a little too much fat around the middle. I can't find anything that suggests foul play except for the fact that this man did not die of natural causes."

"Dammit!" Esposito ripped off his gloves and threw them down on the table. "Dammit, dammit, dammit." He put his hands on top of his head and walked away from the autopsy table. Lanie came around and grabbed his arm.

"We will find her Javi," she said, "this is Beckett we are talking about. She knows how to take care of herself. Plus, she isn't alone. That new detective is missing too, isn't she?"

He turned to look at the doctor, "I'm still not convinced she doesn't have something to do with Beckett's kidnapping."

"Can we stop for a bit?" Lindsay said, "I just need a minute."

Kate stopped walking and turned to look at her just as Lindsay leaned back against a nearby tree trunk. Kate noticed that she was looking a little pale and wondered if it was just because they hadn't eaten in over 24 hours or if something was really wrong. Lindsay bent over and put her hands on her knees, forgetting her left was still cuffed to her Captain's right.

Kate put her free hand on Lindsay's upper back and could feel her breathing heavily, which was alarming. "Are you feeling okay? What can I do?" Kate asked.

Lindsay just shook her head. She didn't know if she could speak, it was getting harder and harder for her to breathe.

"Lindsay?" Kate's hand was still on her upper back and she could feel her breathing getting heavier and more ragged, "what's going on? What do you need?"

"I can't…" Lindsay's right hand came up to her chest as she paused, "breathe." She turned to look at Kate and then continued, breathing heavily as she tried to speak, "I have asthma…it's usually triggered by… stress and sudden changes in weather." Lindsay slid down the tree and sat on the cold forest floor and put her head between her knees. Kate crouched beside her, not sure how to help.

"What can I do?" she asked, "what do you need?"

"I just need a second," Lindsay said, her breathing slowing only slightly.

Kate sat on the forest floor beside her detective and leaned back against the tree. They had to find their way out of this place. Wherever they were.

Castle had rolled out a second murder board but this one; he hoped they would never have to refer to it as such. On the first board, a picture of Mr. Wetrich with the latest information from Lanie scribbled in his messy handwriting that stood out beside Kate's neat penmanship. Crime scene photos, bank statements, phone logs, were all tacked up on the board as well as a timeline tracking the moments before his death. The timeline was, unfortunately, nearly empty.

The second board was blank. Castle had been avoiding putting his wife's picture up there until the last possible moment. Pinning her picture to the board made her disappearance real. It made the possibility of him never getting her back, a reality. A reality he wasn't willing to face just yet.

He picked a precinct folder up off of Ryan's desk and pulled out its contents one by one. He had done some research on the new detective and so far, hadn't found anything incriminating. In fact, he hardly found anything at all. No parking tickets, no arrests, a clean police record from her time in Nebraska, nothing he found on Detective Cavanaugh led him any closer to finding her or his wife.

"Find anything useful Castle?" Ryan walked up carrying a tray of coffee cups from down the street. He pulled one out and handed it to Castle then stepped back to look at the boards.

"Nothing we didn't already know," Castle said as he took a sip of coffee then set it down on the desk. "Esposito went and checked in with Lanie but she doesn't really have anything new. Still doesn't have a cause of death. She did find some bruising on the vics wrists that suggest he was bound up until his death." Castle gestured towards the pictures of the marks that Lanie had taken and then continued, "I looked into Detective Cavanaugh and she's a good cop, clean, not even a parking ticket."

"Have you called her old precinct?" Esposito said as he came down the stairs, "see if we can get a read on her from her old stomping grounds."

"Do we have the authority to do that?" Castle asked.

"No you do not," Gates came out of Beckett's office and joined her team, "but I do." She opened a folder that was in her hands and pulled her glasses from the top of her head and started reading.

"Detective Lindsay Cavanaugh joined the Omaha police force four years ago after spending almost three years as a street cop in Sioux City, IA. Worked in the drug unit during most of her time in Omaha but did work some homicide cases," Gates handed a sheet to Ryan who tacked it up on the blank board. It was a uniform picture of the detective from her time in Omaha.

Gates continued, "There is one thing in here that I wasn't aware of until now."

The three men looked at Gates, waiting for her to continue.

"One of the last cases Detective Cavanaugh worked on in Omaha," Gates flipped a few pages in the folder she was holding and then continued, "she and her partner were on a stakeout that turned deadly and her partner was killed in the crossfire."


End file.
